"Willow, did the warden commander mention anything else about the area?" The elementalist asked the ranger.

"Nothing more than what I have told you, Alyson," The Prince concluded, "You know all that I know now. If you wish to ask him a question or speak with him, a meeting can be quickly arranged."

"Thank you," The Swordsman accepted the map from Elbauthin graciously, "This will go a very long way towards helping us save your people."

Irzen held up the map for all to see, "Hmmm, there's a game trail that we could take along the ridge line as we make our way north. But once we reach the western crest of the valley, we will not only clear the ridge line but also be out in the open. If there are anyone on the plain beyond the valley, they will see us coming."

"Well, couldn't we just fly there?" Serna whispered to everyone gathered around her, "I mean, we have the means to do it. Why can't we just fly to the capitol as opposed to just walking there?"

Lazheros gave the shield maiden a hard look this time, "No. Out of the question. We do not need to let the enemy know we're here, and I do not want to scare the ranger's kin. This is not Asylum where everyone there knows what I am. Here, I am just a cleric of Bahamut, a servant of the people, nothing more."

"Eeep!" Serna jumped back away from Lazheros when she got his hard look and held up her hands, "It was just an idea, that's all."

"He has a very good point, Serna, we are allies of the prince here. We are not well known to his people, and if we were to fly in as you suggest, we would most likely make more enemies than allies." The elementalist agreed with the Bronze Man.

"Or at the very least scare the living hell out of people," The Swordsman quipped as he dropped to one knee and looked Serna in the eye, "I hate to say it! But I have to agree with Lazheros on this one. If we could teleport there, then I would be fine with that! But flying in would be too risky and too dangerous."

Caliaphy settled on the shield maiden's shoulder, "The Bronze Man means well Serna but sometimes he can be a little over the top."

"Tell me about it!" Serna gasped as she caught her breath.

Willow walked over and gave Serna a reassuring wink of the eye, "Besides, we should not be so quick to let our enemy know that we have powerful allies of our own." The Prince nodded over to the Cleric and the Elementalist.

Lazheros nodded in silence to Willow.

"You had a good idea, Serna," The Swordman smiled, "Just bad timing. Okay?"

"Okay!" The Shield Maiden smiled a little.

"Does anyone need anything else before we depart?" The Prince asked no one in particular, "If you do, my people will supply it. All you need do is ask."

Irzen rose to his feet, confronted The Bronze Man and said with a sardonic twist, "Don't you think you were a little strong in your response, pal?! Scaring little girls?! REALLY?! What would Bahamut think?!"

The Bronze Man closed his eyes for a moment before he replied to the Swordsman, "And how many children have you raised in your life time, Lord Irzen? Two, three? I have centuries of experience of raising and teaching children who lost their parents, or ended up as orphans because of some unfortunate event."

"Two. I raised a boy and a girl with and without their mother present," The Swordsman replied not backing down for a minute, "And I learned something during the time I raised them: I learned that a little compassion, a little understanding and a little calm mixed in with a lot of patience can go a VERY long way with children."

"Hey Alpha one and Alpha two, knock it off!" Alyson stepped in between the both of them, "Irzen, he is not scaring little girls! Do you think I had an easy time spending summers in Asylum when I was little? Yeah, I got into trouble, and yeah I had to deal with the consequences of my actions. Look, you want to get out there and bring the pain to the horde, okay fine. When we get out of here and head for the capital, I will summon Dragolem and you two can raise some hell."

"Really?!" The Swordsman gave The Elementalist a quizzical look, "You can summon Dragolem?! Well hell, Alyson, if you can do that, then why not summon Quake and Mermidon while you're at it? God knows we're going to need all the help we can get to beat this horde. And their aid would be MOST welcome!"

"Dragolem?" Lazheros stepped back a little to give her more room.

"Yes, the Yang elemental." Alyson muttered quietly. "Sometimes you need evil to fight evil." She looked over at Willow, "I'm good to go and so is Lazheros."

"Calipahy and I are good to go as well, Willow," Serna spoke up.

"You know I'm always ready for a fight," The Swordsman replied, "Even moreso ready to travel to one. I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

"Good! We leave now," The Prince pointed northward as he led the party onward, "The ridgeline is this way. Let us make haste."